Work on the collapsed Tiger Creek Bridge in Region Eight continues to be delayed by persistent rain but the contractor has been helping vehicles to travel through the area via a bypass.
The key Potaro-Siparuni bridge collapsed on November 3rd while a heavy-duty truck was crossing. No one was injured. At that time, the Regional Engineer Wendell St Pierre told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that from a preliminary assessment the bridge appears to have collapsed due to a damaged beam.
While the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) had crafted a three-week timeline for the completion of emergency works on the bridge, progress has been severely delayed by rainfall in the area.
Stabroek News was told by a representative of the Ministry that work on the bridge resumed on Monday with the installation of the beams. However, he said, the contractor is still awaiting the final shipment of materials to the site. Hopefully this could be done today.
He noted that once those materials arrive, the remaining beams will be installed as well as the final piles to support the abutment.
A bus driver who only identified himself as ‘Keon” told Stabroek News yesterday that based on what he has witnessed, vehicular traffic is normal despite the delay in the reconstruction of the bridge. He noted that when it is not raining, vehicles can make their way up the hill via the bypass with no issue.
However, when it rains, he said it’s impossible for those vehicles to drive up the hill so the contractor has ensured that there is a truck on site to pull the vehicles up the hill so they can continue their journey.
He added that rain has been falling steadily and sometimes very heavily and every time he makes a trip to Georgetown and then back to Mahdia, they are always assisted by those working on the Tiger Creek bridge.
“It’s not really a big issue, man. We understand that it is the rain that is delaying the work but they always helping us out when it raining. Because it’s a hill we does gah tek pull … But the people have an excavator and a tractor and the tractor does pull bus, car and cruiser but the excavator does pull them truck through. It’s not a big deal because everybody getting to go about their business,” he said.
Several other bus operators who were at the Mahdia Bus Park in Georgetown agreed with and echoed Keon’s statements.
In addition, Keon stated that the bypass is in a good condition.
